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Elizabeth Weintraub
Miyako Restaurant at New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel
The Miyako Restaurant at the new Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel in Honolulu amazed us to no end. Just when you think you’ve dined at all the best Japanese restaurants, this one soars to the top of the list. Even the Otani Kaimana Hotel was a unique and amazing discovery.
It wasn’t as though I had planned to discover this place. My trip to Honolulu for New Year’s to see Hella Rothwell involved returning to Kona on Thursday. But then my husband pointed out that Patton Oswalt was on vacation at Oahu. Apparently, Patton posted to Twitter announcing a show at the Blue Note in Waikiki, located next to the Outrigger, the day after I would have left.
Hey, hey, there is a benefit to Pualani Platinum status on Hawaiian Airlines. I changed my return flight from Thursday to Saturday at no charge. We had to check out of the Halekulani on Thursday, so Hella suggested I get a room at the Otani. I went online and booked a corner room with ocean views.
However, when I checked in and saw the room on the 6th floor, it was NOT a remodeled room. It is called the New Otani Kaimana for a reason. I asked the front desk for an upgrade, and the photo above was shot from my new room at the Queen Kapiolani Suite, room 914. The difference between the two rooms was like staying at a Motel 6 versus Four Seasons.
Look at that view of Waikiki. You can see the Royal Hawaiian (the pink hotel) in the distance. Not only are the views spectacular from the top floor of the Otani, but you can also view the mountains from its floor-to-ceiling windows that open to a lanai. I have two words for you. Toto Washlet. I had to work on Friday, selling Sacramento real estate, but did not object to working from my room one little bit. And, it was only $72 more than the Motel 6 room.
The location is also next door to Michel’s at the Colony Surf. You can walk to Waikiki, and I have done it on previous trips, never realizing the Otani was here.
Hella started the dinner at Miyako Restaurant with a trio sake sampler. I stuck to sparkling wine. The only remarkable thing I recall about Hella’s sake sampler was the Cherry Blossom sake, which was incredible. This was January 4th, and the Japanese New Year had ended.
I know I’ve said this before, how I used to believe the French had cornered the market on how to enjoy life by enhancing simple daily activities. But when I got older, I realized my mistake. It is the Japanese who have refined the art of living well. It didn’t even bother me that when we were at the Halekulani, except for that creepy English toad at Orchids, we were about the only white people there. Everybody else was Japanese, the staff and the guests. I felt right at home.
The staff at Miyako Restaurant wore traditional kimonos. Reminded me of my uncle who served in Okinawa when I was a kid. He sent me a Japanese doll dressed in a kimono, which my mother refused to let me play with. She said I could admire her in my shadow box on my bedroom wall, but I was not allowed to touch her.
What an idiotic thing to tell a child. Her attire was bright yellow and beautiful. So of course I eventually removed the pins, and took her entire outfit apart, without being able to piece it back together.
We ordered shabu shabu. But with wagyu beef. We were served many courses of small dishes, starting with seaweed, followed by sashimi, then pickled vegetables, rice, miso soup. I’m probably forgetting something. It was so much food.
I tried my best to finish my wagyu beef but I could not. The shabu shabu featured cabbage, green onions, emoki mushrooms, tofu, carrot, rice noodles — served with a ponzu and another dipping sauce. You could have rolled me out of there. Just shoved me onto the floor and rolled me to the elevator.
After dinner, we drove to the Blue Note, which is next to the Outrigger Hotel in Waikiki. I was able to score premium tables to see Patton Oswalt. Patton is a bit of hero to my husband and me. His humor is wicked smart, delivered with a touch of humility. I was only sorry that my husband could not be in Hawaii with me. But somebody’s gotta feed the cats. He would have enjoyed it.
Especially the part where Patton said he doesn’t really do Trump jokes because our president has that covered all by himself. He compared his presidency to a busload of monkeys on PCP running into a mountain of diarrhea. The jokes are all there by themselves. Nobody has to help that.
Patton, of course, did his part where he involved the audience in his banter. That’s about the time I was wishing we hadn’t chosen a booth with Tiffany, I forgot her name, and her husband. But she did show us how to use the filters in Messenger to create the photo you see above you now. I need more friends with children.
Most of Patton’s skit had to do with turning 50, ha, ha, ha, such a baby he is. You’re not really living until you pass age 65. And his marriage, dealing with the complexities of an invitation to tour the Millennium Falcon or attend his daughter’s 2nd grade art show. This is why I don’t have kids. But humor comes from your life. You talk about about what you know and experience. And if you can’t make fun of that, what’s the freakin’ point?
A Creepy English Toad at Halekulani’s Orchids
Before I tell you about the creepy English toad at Halekulani’s Orchids restaurant, I need to explain my photo. Also, I have no photos of Orchids. Nothing was really unusual enough to take a picture of except maybe that creepy English toad at Halekulani’s Orchids. So these are not oysters from Orchids. However, they are the most delectable oysters I have ever had in my life.
Look at how fat, juicy and huge they are!
The time has come, the Walrus said, to talk of many things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax, cabbages and kings.
Hella and I ordered these oysters at Michel’s at the Colony Surf the night after we dined with the creepy English toad at Halekulani’s Orchids. Our waiter at Michel’s could only tell us they came from the state of Washington. So the name of these oysters remains a mystery. I suppose I could call Michel’s and ask what type of oysters they served on New Year’s Eve but that would involve picking up the phone.
On to creepy English toad at Halelulani’s Orchids on the night before New Year’s Eve. This was our first night in Waikiki. Hella and I really haven’t talked much over the past year so we were anxious to catch up on all of the important events in our lives. We’ve both enjoyed a fabulous 2018.
We shared jokes, stories. And we laughed and laughed. In retrospect, we both agree that we were not loud enough to be disturbing. However, I did not notice the creepy English toad at Halekulani’s Orchids right away because I was focused on Hella’s conversation; although, he sat with his back to us about 8 feet away. His dining companion, we later observed, looked like a domestic abuse victim.
She sat erect in her chair staring at their table, eyes downcast, knees together, clutching an upright purse in her lap. Not moving. Occasionally reaching for a glass of water. We wondered afterwards if she cut her hair herself or if the creepy toad did the honors. They seemed a strange couple. Was she a wife? A caretaker?
As we were nearing the end of our dinner and considering a dessert wine, I launched into my humorous and unbelievable tale about the remodeling project in process at our house in Kona. I had just reached the part about how Lowe’s did not deliver all of our cabinets, which delayed part of the install, and how Lowe’s also did not tell me our new cabinets had been discontinued. Which I discovered only by calling Shenandoah.
At that part of the conversation, the creepy toad at Halelulani’s Orchids spun around in his chair. He looked at Hella and then directly at me, rolling his fat arm over the back of his chair and leaning in, as though he had something confidential to say to us.
My first impression was he was about to commiserate. That perhaps he had done a remodel through Lowe’s as well. I mean what else could it be? I thought I heard him say the word Lowe’s. He spoke so softly it was hard to hear. Like he could be a child molester or some other type of pervert, Hella later pointed out, because that’s how they speak. Perhaps she’s thinking of Hannibal Lecter?
Due to his English accent and soft voice, it was difficult to understand him, but we were also in a state of shock when we realized what he had said. He began by saying we needed to pull our lives together. He called us out of control.
Who knew what a story about remodeling with Lowe’s could bring out in a stranger? I don’t recall what else he decided to share with us because we were both so stunned that he was still speaking in such an accusatory tone. We were speechless. He ended his brief tirade by suggesting we immediately seek the services of a psychiatrist. It was a really crazy and bizarre encounter.
I glanced at Hella and asked if she wanted a dessert or a dessert drink? She said we should go. She did not want to be near this ugly, creepy toad. Neither did I. He made our collective skins crawl.
What do you say when you’re accosted out of the blue? Well, we’ve thought of many things much later but at the moment it happened, all I felt for him was pity. Such a sad lonely creature. I stood up. I think Hella thought I was gonna punch him in the face, ha, ha. But instead I walked over to his table, slapped the table edge to get his attention and said, “I hope you both manage to have a Happy New Year’s.”
Turned on our heels and left.
Where were the waiters at Halekulani when their customers were being assaulted by a weirdo?
This photo above was shot at House Without a Key at Halekulani on New Year’s Eve. After dinner at Michel’s, we enjoyed the Bill Maher show at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, and then we took off for the Daijingu Temple for a blessing from a Shinto priest. And to buy our golden frog amulets and a variety of other New Year’s treasures. By the time we made it back to Halekulani, it was fifteen minutes to midnight.
Hella sweet-talked her way into crashing the party underway at House Without a Key, and a waiter brought us each a glass of champagne to toast in the new year. We survived 2018 and New Year’s Eve in Honolulu. But we will probably for years still laugh about our odd encounter with the creepy English toad at Halekulani’s Orchids.
He meant to be mean. But why? Why are people so unhappy that they try to make themselves despicable to complete strangers? I do not have an answer to that.
Things to Do After New Year’s in Oahu
This is Kailua Beach on Oahu. It is so windy. Of course, it was late afternoon, about 4 PM, when Hella and I were there yesterday. But still. These people are sitting on the beach like they are lucky to be on a beach anywhere . . . in extreme wind. It was so windy my cork Hawaiian bag from Kona spun around four times.
I guess you make the best of it. Gotta hand it to people who make lemonade out of lemons. It was so windy my hair blew out of my clip, and my hair is pretty long.
Rabbit Island. Anything more to say? No, yet . . .
have to say that I really hate the new WordPress. It is not user friendly on a laptop which is where most of their users must originate. It is annoying, and it is not my adverse nature to learning something new. I can be a lemming, for example.
Consider the fact my friend Hella and I were walking down the street in Waikiki yesterday, and I said, Hey, let’s stop at Apple and look at new phones. Was not planning to buy a phone. Just browse. Well, it took 4 different sales reps, break times and all, to sell me a new phone, and I walked out with a new 10XR, without a recent update. They promised me my messages would transfer but my last update to iCloud was two weeks ago and they did not update.
Should have updated through iTunes and not trusted these young yo-yos.
Yes, proof that you want to trust these Millennials, but you really cannot. They only know what they know. They do not know, for example, that Aimee Mann has 9 albums everybody ought to listen to. Which I introduced to the Apple store in Honolulu.
They do not know that Sean Penn read a children’s bedtime story at the Bill Maher Show in Honolulu on New Year’s about what is is like when a nuclear bomb strikes. Hey, kids should know!
This is a blow-hole along the coast of Oahu.
I apologize I did not lead with this photo. Pretty cool, yes?
Lo Siento. My favorite Spanish phrase. Such conviction and sorrow — I deliver!! I spent 6 months learning Castilian Spanish to tour Barcelona and I recall primarily: Lo Siento. All in all, it is a good phrase. It will never do you wrong,
Although. I have to warn. It can be sad.
Lo Siento.
If it is not sad, it probably should be. Any sorrow . . . Otherwise you get it right the first time. But that is how we learn. Aloha!
Do You Want to Hire a Confident Realtor?
Most people, I believe, prefer to hire a confident Realtor. Although, for as long as I can remember, people have admitted that they find me a bit intimidating when we first meet. That kind of reaction is a bit puzzling to me. I mean, I’m no Darth Vader. I’m not a particularly threatening type of person in stature or appearance. People at the post office don’t cross their forefingers and fall to the ground when they see me coming. Yet, I hear over and over that when people get to know me, their initial impression changes. I go from being a big personality to gregarious, friendly and caring.
A Sacramento home buyer called yesterday to ask if I would help her. She had read my blogs on LandParkBlog.com and said she called because I appear “competent without being arrogant and have a sense of humor.” She also believed that I could very assertive if the situation warrants. She didn’t feel intimidated, which was good. Guess she preferred to hire a confident Realtor.
Unfortunately, I had to refer this buyer to a team member because she was interested in buying a commercial property, and that’s an area in which I have no experience. I believe clients deserve an agent with expertise. I specialize in listing and selling throughout Sacramento.
If I had to pick the one thing about me that seems to intimidate people, though, I’d say it must be the confidence I project. I can’t think of any other aspect of my personality that would frighten people. I’m direct. I say what I mean. Lots of people aren’t direct. In retrospect, maybe that’s why so many of my clients are lawyers. I’m not afraid of lawyers, like many agents. In fact, I love working with lawyers.
I shared an observation with a lawyer the other day that the homes she seemed interested in buying were homes priced above her comfort level, and the homes she didn’t like were priced at her comfort level, and asked if that was a correct assessment. She said no, thought about it, but then raised the price of her comfort level. I don’t tell clients what to do; I guide clients to make a decision that is right for them. That’s my job.
See, I don’t believe there is anything wrong with exuding confidence. If some people find a person with confidence scary, maybe that fear comes about because confidence is a trait that is missing in their own personalities. To me, confidence is about knowing your own boundaries, limitations, and not being afraid to exceed them, even at the risk of failure. What do you think? Do you want to hire a confident Realtor?
No Big Rush to List a Home in Land Park
The year of 2019 is starting out very busy. I thought this weekend would be fairly quiet, but I guess as people sat around watching football or perhaps recovering from New Year’s Eve activities, they started to think about buying and selling real estate in Sacramento. That’s because I received a ton of phone calls: Should we list a home in Land Park now? Can I afford to buy a home before interest rates rise? When is a good time to put homes in Land Park on the market? Should I fix up my home or sell as is?
One home seller in Land Park asked if I wanted to come over to sign the listing paperwork or if I preferred to wait until the seller finishes making improvements. I’m not one of those agents who worries about losing clients to another agent, so there is no rush to list a home in Land Park until the home is ready to be shown.
The thing is it is in the seller’s best interest to put a home on the market when that home is in tip-top shape. In the past, I have shown homes that were not yet prepared for sale to real estate agents, erroneously believing that agents have the ability to look past defects and construction work and give an estimate of value. What I have discovered is that many agents aren’t any different from buyers. Some of them can’t see past a mess. They want to view the home in turn-key condition.
The first few weeks on the market are crucial. A seller in Land Park needs to present that home in its absolute best light. It should shine from top to bottom and be immaculate. There is no reason to give a buyer even one small reason to pass up that home in Land Park. I don’t want buyers to come away from a showing with any lingering doubts.
I prefer to hit the market with a bang. Virtual tour, in place and uploaded. Check. Perfect verbiage on every website. Check. Professional photographs, tweaked, brightened. Check. Broker / MLS tours, set up and scheduled. Check. Open house, advertising ready. Check. Online marketing, extensive exposure. Check. Bay area emails prepared. Check. No rush to toss a listing into MLS. In the immortal words probably last uttered by David Carradine: Patience, young grasshopper. And look what happened to Carradine. OK, maybe don’t.
Think of it this way: Would you push a fashion model down the runway who is limping on one foot, pulling on her second shoe? Well, some misguided eager-beavers would. I prefer to make a grand entrance. When I list a home in Land Park, I find my sellers expect a big splash.
